Excessive-density energy modules and 48V energy supply community allow midrange autos to undertake luxurious function
Xiamen Hongfa Electroacoustic Co., Ltd (Hongfa) has designed the business’s highest efficiency and smallest lively suspension energy system with a aim to drive what has been a long-time luxurious function into the midrange car class. Overcoming a long time of false begins by outstanding automotive expertise suppliers, Hongfa struck a stability between the necessity to handle lively suspension system measurement, weight and transient efficiency towards the requirement for greater effectivity, improved EMI and symmetrical regenerative energy capability.
As an automotive energy administration and distribution specialist, whose relays are enabling new 48V zonal architectures, Hongfa partnered with Vicor to combine a fixed-ratio 800V-48V DC-DC converter energy module that sits alongside a community of sensors, electromechanical actuators and complex software program to regulate car suspension in actual time. The collaboration yielded the smallest lively suspension system – nearly half the dimensions of the closest competitor – with the business’s quickest energy conversion transient response.
Excessive-voltage batteries and a 48V PDN set off a revolution for the Hongfa lively suspension imaginative and prescient
Whether or not a car is on a worn freeway, a backcountry dust lane or navigating suburban potholes, lively suspension gives higher dealing with, a smoother, safer experience and diminished highway noise. Early business efforts within the Nineteen Seventies included a fancy electromagnetic resolution which strained the capabilities of 12V battery energy techniques and required 4 200-pound motors.
Traditionally, 12VDC has confirmed to be insufficient for powering lively suspension motors with out including measurement, weight and value. Moreover, some standard DC-DC converters can ship energy with out the necessity for an intermediate battery, however the tradeoff is that they’re cumbersome and lack the quick transient response time required to satisfy the regenerative calls for to recoup and retailer energy.
Regardless of a historical past of power-hungry, heavy masses, lively suspension techniques stand to learn from in the present day’s greater voltage (400V or 800V) major batteries and the business’s adoption of 48V energy supply networks (PDNs); a mix is already powering plug-in hybrids and BEVs.
Vicor fixed-ratio 800V to 48V DC-DC BCM bus converters are inherently bidirectional and supply the quickest transient response (8 million amps/second) of any DC-DC converter topology. BCMs additionally supply symmetrical bidirectional efficiency with the power to buck or enhance with the identical energy stage. Their superior planar packaging simplifies thermal administration system design, additional decreasing general footprint and weight.
Linking lively suspension on to the principle battery with a bidirectional energy converter permits optimum vitality recuperation. Just like how a spring absorbs and releases vitality, lively suspension makes use of regenerative shock absorbers to gather kinetic vitality that’s returned to the battery.
Hongfa introduces smallest lively suspension system utilizing energy modules and 48V
The Hongfa resolution leverages Vicor high-density energy modules to create a compact (197 x 201 x 71mm) 5kW energy provide for every actuator. The system can quickly course of as much as 6kW of peak energy in both course. The design of the converter is enormously simplified through the use of a pair of Vicor BCM6135 modules working in parallel, as a substitute of a number of hundred discrete elements.
The converter is optimized to work with 800V battery techniques and has an working vary between 420V to 920V. With liquid cooling it could actually ship as much as 100A of present with 97.3% effectivity. The system housing quantity is underneath 1.8l and weighs 2.6kg, offering a significant discount over different techniques.
“Relating to lively suspension, our OEM prospects require a DC-DC converter with a response fee measured in milliseconds, in any other case, extra battery assist is required,” mentioned Peter Li, Director of Analysis and Improvement at Hongfa. “Vicor’s BCM6135 energy modules not solely delivered the efficiency we want, additionally they considerably shortened our improvement time and have made designing this technique a lot simpler for us.”
The mixture of 48V and high-density energy modules is enabling new ranges of innovation in automotive electrification – decreasing area, weight and offering superior efficiency. Collectively, Hongfa and Vicor are leveraging their automotive experience to develop superior expertise and assist the evolution of high-performing electrical autos.
